You’ve decided to get in shape. You want to feel better. You want to look better, and wanting to look better is a noble goal. Perhaps you’ve tried before, and stopped. Time passes, your conscience nags, you start again. The pressures of time squash motivation. Starting, stopping, starting again, and again. You don’t know what to do, and so, you do nothing.

Getting in shape, whatever that means, is more about mindset than anything. Becoming active after being largely sedentary for a length of time requires effort, but training your body is one area in life where you genuinely are rewarded for repeatedly showing up. However, you need to show up with a purpose, and a plan.

 

Training for strength is much easier than training to improve appearance, because the results are objective. If you can lift more weight than you could last week, you’re stronger, it’s as simple as that. Beauty being held in the eyes of the beholder, how do you decide if you look good enough? When you get beautiful enough, what then?

If you train to get stronger, the odds are better than even that you’ll look better, too. Train correctly, and you’ll feel better and stay motivated. Still, the question remains how to start.

Strength is a skill, and like any skill, it requires practice. If you approach training your body by learning skills, like practicing the guitar, it becomes easier, and something you want to do. When you start practicing the guitar, you learn maybe three chords your first session. You gain some ability moving between them, maybe even a simple song, like “Happy Birthday”. You learn three more, and add “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” to your repertoire. Now, you have skills.

Strength training is the same way. The first thing to learn is how to control your body by learning simple body weight exercises, like push-ups, glute bridges, and squats. Maybe you can even force a pull-up.  Consider them the easy chords, like C, A, and E. Still, the question, how to begin.

How about learning one skill? William of Occam said, “It is vain to do with more what can be done with less”. I agree. So, choose one strength skill, and practice it until you own it like “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”

My suggestion is the humble push-up. The push-up is the kindergarten of strength training. Master it, and you’ll learn everything there is to know about strength, from neutral spine to correct breathing. It’s easy to learn, and can be practiced every day, anywhere, anytime. It’s a measure of both strength and conditioning. If you can’t do five perfect push-ups, you’re weak. Being able to do double-digit repetitions is both gratifying and impressive.

Since I’ve presumed to give you a goal, I must give you a plan. A goal without a plan is just a dream. So, how do you go from zero push-ups to five to ten perfect push-ups? You “grease the groove.”

First, pick a starting day, and see how many perfect push-ups you can do. It will help to have someone watch your form, but if not, be honest. Perfect form means a straight back, level head, elbows about forty-five degrees form the body, and no sagging of the lower back. Ramrod straight. The total is your one set maximum. If you can’t do one, your one set max is, well, zero, but have no fear. Now, set a goal, because in four weeks, you’ll test again. Be reasonable, but make it a challenge. Perhaps you’ll decide to double your test number. That’s a good goal.

On day one, do twenty push-ups, no matter how many sets is takes. Since five repetitions is a classic training scheme, why not use it? Take as much rest between sets as you need. Power loves rest. You might do two sets in the morning, and two in the afternoon, whatever it takes to get your twenty reps. Day two, you’ll do twenty-one. The program looks like this:

Day 1) 20… Day 2) 21… Day 3) 22… Day 4) 23… Day 5) 24

take two days off…

Day 6) 24… Day 7) 25… Day 8) 26… Day 9) 27…Day 10) 28

two days off…

Day 11) 28… Day 12) 29… Day 13) 30… Day 14) 31… Day 15)… 32…

two days off…

Day 16) 32… Day 17) 33… Day 18) 34… Day 19) 35… Day 20) 35…

Rest for two days, and then test again. I’ll bet you double your baseline.

Now, what if your baseline was zero? Do a modified push-up. Lean against a wall, and perform the push-up. You can use a desk, a coffee table, a sturdy chair. Kitchen counters work great, so do bathroom vanities. The further away from the wall or counter, the harder the effort. If you do a modified push-up, try to get lower as you proceed through the program. Again, I’ll bet that after four weeks you can do at least one real push-up, and if that’s all you can do, it’s more than when you started. You are stronger, and you have a new skill. Perhaps by now you can even rock “Smoke On The Water”.

It’s that simple. Rock on.